


Lonely

by GreenNAngry



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Nick Valentine is Wise, Nick Valentine is a Good Friend, mentions of depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28809603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenNAngry/pseuds/GreenNAngry
Summary: Just two lonely people in the remnants of the earth.I always thought there was something really special about the shared loneliness between Nick Valentine and the Sole Survivor, so this is an older piece of writing that came from that.You can read this as platonic or otherwise.
Relationships: Female Sole Survivor & Nick Valentine, Female Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine, Nick Valentine/Original Female Character(s), Sole Survivor & Nick Valentine, Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Lonely

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

"Hey, kid. You okay?"

Sole sits on the edge of her bed in the house she used to call home once long ago.

It wasn't the same bed, no that one had been destroyed many years before. Torn down and replaced. She couldn't bring herself to live in any of the other houses, the ones that used to belong to friends, accquaintances, children she expected Shaun to make friends with when he grew up.

So she set back up in her old home, made it comfortable again. Made it some form of home again. In a new way.

But sometimes, sometimes she would wake up and look around the room, the house, the neighborhood, and feel so alone

Even with the company of the Minutemen, the railroad, her frequent companions. Even with Dogmeat curled up on her feet.

She was a woman out of time, a time where nobody except some ghouls understood.

And she _wasn't_ a ghoul. She was so very human, far from fragile but more so than the ghouls and supermutants she faced constantly. She would one day decay and disappear into the earth like the people she'd left behind. Taking the memory of the past with her.

And to lose somebody and know you're all that's left of them and everything else that once existed, a living, walking time capsule, she knew nobody could understand.

Except Nick.

Nick Valentine, in all his synthetic glory, leaning against the decaying doorway giving her a gentle look. Concern on his frayed features.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She waves a hand, but stares at the ground, biting her thumbnail.

"Y'know, I haven't got an official lie detector but I've got a pretty good read on when someone's bullshitting me. Don't think I'd make a good detective if I didn't."

She offers a weak smile and looks up at him.

"Just... Thinking about life before. The movies, the music, the animals, the grass. Bright colors."

"Miss it much?"

"I never fully enjoyed it when it was around... I had a constant darkness around me. But now that the world I knew is gone, it's like..."

She trails off, unsure of how to explain.

He nods, though, seeming to understand that she can't find the right words.

"On one hand... The idea of finding an old record or tape, to listen to old music or watch an old film... to remember... it sounds great, but holding onto the past doesn't get you anywhere. The past is a nice place to visit, but you can't live there."

He nods, stepping inwards.

"Can I sit?" He speaks softly, and she nods, smoothing the blanket for him to do so.

Dogmeat looks up at the shift in the mattress but doesn't appear to be too bothered.

"Every day I live with memories of the past that aren't really mine. I remember what it was like, how it smelled, the food, the people, the homes. Before there was so much decay and disaster. But I also live with knowing I was never truly there."

She nods, a sympathetic look on her features.

"It gave me a certain perspective. The memories, you can remininisce and feel your feelings, but... They're supposed to give you something to really fight for. Because you want to see the world become something again. Look around you, the Minutemen, Diamond City, an old Synth like me. I don't know exactly what you're feeling, but something about your feelings and experiences have brought a hope to the Commonwealth that we have never had before. Maybe things won't be the same as before, but the way things were is the reason the war happened in the first place, right?"

She nods, leaning her head on his shoulder. A few tears drip down her face.

"Thank you, Nick. Really. I mean it."

"Don't mention it, kid."

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave kudos or comment if you enjoyed, I'd love to read what you have to say!


End file.
